I know. It’s been a while. I could go on with a long list of excuses of what we’ve been up to that’s kept us away from updating the blog, but you don’t want to hear that. Oh wait. That’s what this post is about. Well, partially anyway. But it’s more of a thank you. Please, read on. You deserve the thank you.

I can remember the exact moment I started NixonPack.com. I was sitting cross legged on my bed in Chicago feeling completely overwhelmed by the idea of widgets and plugins and what does any of that mean, anyway? I asked Jon, and he wasn’t much help. But I think we can all imagine the remarks he came up with for widgets (eye roll). All I knew is that all of our friends, and family, and clients, would constantly text or call us with design dreams, renovation issues, real estate questions…for lack of a better term “house stuff”. We were their go-to’s for all things home. And we loved it. We thrive on every last contract and contractor debacle. So, what if we put pen to paper and shared some of them? No one puts pen to paper anymore so NixonPack.com was born. This past year, I haven’t been as great at updating it as I would like to be. Moving (halfway) across the country, completely gutting the house Jon bought that I never saw getting settled in, being a mama and working on all of our projects has kept us one step from the nuthouse. But man has it been a wonderful year.

Just since the big move in March, we’ve had the opportunity to renovate an incredible lake house. To put our #NixonPack spin on several client projects. To edit and stage a spectacular home to sell. To get a run-down rental in tip top shape. To stage a new condo for the top spot in the Downtown Living Tour. Just to name a few. I can’t tell you how grateful we are for these opportunities. To be creative. To work together as a family. To help someone realize their own American dream. It feels so good. And we can’t wait to do it on an even larger scale in 2018.

As I type this, Jon’s sitting at our dining room table with floor plans for the 2018 Parade of Homes sprawled out. The plans, plus markers, Grey’s crayons, and a bowl of vanilla ice cream with a very generous drizzle of caramel sauce. (Pray he doesn’t get any on the plans because we need to get them back to the architect tomorrow.) We are unbelievably excited that JMG Custom Homes brought us in to design their Parade House. We are tasked with selecting every material, every paint color – the entire design from the plans to the furniture, the works. And we can’t wait to bring you along for the ride. We want you to be a part of this process with us. You make everything so much fun, truly. We love your feedback, your questions, your thoughtful messages both here and on social media and we can’t thank you enough. So as we look to 2018, the #NixonPack will be flipping our own homes, working with JMG, managing rentals and who knows what else is around the corner. But I guess my other point is that for every person who asked, why haven’t you updated the blog lately? What’s going on with that bachelor client? How is your bathroom coming along? Thank you. Starting now you can expect to see more. From flatlays of new materials, to how to incorporate new trends into your home, to Q&A’s, to our favorite small shops, vintage finds and project details…we’re working on upping our game for the new year.

Don’t worry. Jon’s cutoffs and inappropriate jokes aren’t going anywhere. We’re not that fancy.